Danny Wuerffel's college football career at Florida was one for
the ages. By the time he left Florida, he'd led the Gators to four SEC championships
and one national title, had become one of only two players in college football
history to win the Heisman Trophy and Draddy Trophy in the same year and had
set four national records, 12 SEC records and 32 school records.

Wuerffel's accomplishments after football may not get as many
headlines, but it's no less impressive. He's the director of Desire
Street Ministries, which seeks to transform impoverished urban neighborhoods
into thriving healthy communities, and partners with other organizations with
similar goals around the Southeast. The organization was founded in New Orleans but moved its headquarters to Atlanta after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Wuerffel will be speaking in Mobile on May 1 to publicize Desire Street's partnership with Trinity Family Ministries, an organization run by
Scott and Katie Moore that is doing work within the Trinity Gardens community. The
Moores and their four children moved to Trinity Gardens in 2013 and have
started a church there.

The event, which includes a reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by
dinner at 6:15 p.m., will be held at The Bright Spot on the I-65 Beltline and
is free to the public. For more information, contact Ebonie Sanders at
esanders@desirestreet.org.

Wuerffel said his own involvement in charitable work came
gradually while playing professionally with the New Orleans Saints and four
other teams from 1997-2002.

"Like a lot of people, you hear about something and you take the
step to volunteer," he said. "You don't have great big, life-changing plans at the
moment. You just take those small steps. For me those small steps added up over
seven years of playing in the NFL and volunteering and one day I was driving down
my street and it got harder and harder to turn to go to practice football, so I
retired and started turning the other way and starting working full-time at
Desire Street."

Danny Wuerffel is one of only two players to win the Heisman Trophy and the Draddy Trophy, which recognizes college football's top scholar-athlete, in the same year. (Associated Press)

Wuerffel's journey from football star to full-time charity work was interrupted in 2011, when he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a nervous system disorder, in 2011. He described the condition as "a slow kind of growing paralysis" that typically begins in the legs and works its way up into the arms and, potentially, the respiratory system.

"For me, it got to where for a good while I had a hard time standing and a really hard time walking, and then my hands got weak and numb," Wuerffel said. "That lasted for a week or two, and then just very weak and not real mobile for another couple months, and then probably another year of just being really tired. Imagine losing an entire day with 30 percent of your normal energy, then a couple months later, 40 percent, and then maybe 50 percent. So that was hard, trying to live in a world that's going 100 miles an hour and you can only drive 30."

Fortunately, the majority of those diagnosed with Guillain-Barre recover fully with treatment, and Wuerffel was among the fortunate ones.

"That was a very difficult time and the impact that made on me, I think, was hard but good," he said. "It forced me to slow down and ask some deeper questions of myself that I think are easy to not ask when you're busy - questions of why are you doing what you're doing. Some of the answers you get when you ask deeper questions aren't so pretty, so I think that's why we stay busy. The experience was one of those brutally positive ones, if I could use those words. Fortunately I feel pretty healthy. I'm able to do most of the things I feel like I need to do. I'm exercising and I'm really grateful."

In an interview with AL.com on Friday, Wuerffel touched on a
variety of football-related topics as well:

On the Northwestern football team's potentially historic vote on
unionization this week: "I don't know what's going to happen. For me, this is
one of those issues where it's really obvious to look at a situation and say, 'Man,
something's not right. Some things are out of proportion.' But to move toward a
solution is really complicated. So I don't know if this is a great solution,
but it definitely sort of keeps the conversation going and keeps it open. I see
both sides of the equation. My hope is in the midst of it all, the game of
football stays strong and it doesn't diminish the game itself."

On Florida's struggles last year and this year's prospects: "I'm
a big fan of coach (Will) Muschamp. Like everybody, this was a really, really
hard year for the Gators. But I really believe in his energy, his enthusiasm
and his ability to coach. ... I would expect with coach Muschamp, the defense is
going to be strong again and be a powerhouse and then I have hopes along with
the rest of the Gator Nation that the offense will pick up its end of the stick
and get some production. I'm definitely hopeful and really expect it to be a
better year."

On Georgia QB Aaron Murray breaking his SEC record for career
touchdown passes last season: "I'm still angry with him. I won't talk to him (pauses,
then laughs). We've met at a couple different events and I'm just really happy
for him. He had a really great, long career and seems to be a really nice young
man. I ran into him at an inner-city YMCA here in Atlanta. They were doing an
outreach, the Georgia athletes. It was great to know he was giving back."

On the large group of SEC quarterbacks in this year's draft and the challenges they face with the process: "Going
through the draft - well, not so much the draft, but the whole process of the
combine, the evaluation -- it's like everybody's job in the world becomes
finding what's wrong with you. ... Looking at the group of quarterbacks coming out of the SEC,
there's a bunch of good ones kind of coming in all different shapes and sizes
and skill sets. (Johnny) Manziel's the exciting one and my guess would be the highest
drafted, but I think the other guys have a lot to offer, and we'll see."

On being elected to the College Football Hall of Fame last year:
"The timing of it helped to make it extra special for me. If it would have happened
10 years ago, I don't think I would have been at a place in life to sit back
and reflect on it, as I have recently. Thinking about the memories, playing for
coach (Steve) Spurrier, the relationships and all the people in my life that
were so significant in making those things happen, even off the field. You
think about sacrifices your parents made, your sibling cheering for you, equipment
managers, all the pieces of so many people's lives that are a part of that
story, to me make it all the more special."

On what he's most proud of in his career: "There's so many
blessings, I feel quite spoiled looking back at my football career. Personally,
the deeper lessons that you learn about relating to others, having common goals,
perseverance, hard work and getting back up - just life lessons that you can
read about in a book or talk about in a classroom, but when it's 6 a.m. and you're
sweating and bleeding with 10 other guys trying to run sprints, you learn
something. Personally, those were the types of lessons I think that stuff.

"When I look at it as ... what did this mean in the trajectory of
my life, I think of my time at Florida, being a Gator and playing for Steve
Spurrier in an offense that just couldn't be more ideal for me and the way I
thought and the way I played, I think it just allowed me to be considerably more
successful than I may have been in a different situation. That success and the
national championship and Heisman Trophy really alters the trajectory of your
life. I'm so grateful for coach Spurrier and the Florida Gators."

On whether he thinks Spurrier will win a championship at South
Carolina: "I don't know, but I know he's loving it. He loves being the underdog
and proving people wrong. He's done more than anyone could have expected. He
deserves one whether he gets one or not. He's playing in a tough conference to
try to pull that off, but I wouldn't be surprised."

On the SEC's run of eight straight BCS appearances and the
just-ended streak of seven straight titles: "One argument is that when you have
too many good teams together, they beat each other up and aren't healthy by the
end of the year. But this league has surely proven that beating each other up
makes you tougher. It's pretty remarkable. It's fun to be in the debates with
other people about whose conference is the best and it just gets easier and
easier to win that one."